1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a reinforced non-woven fabric and, more particularly to a high-tenacity non-woven fabric suited for use as materials for packaging, medical supplies or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
There are known various types of non-woven fabrics reinforced with yarns, slit films or textiles composed thereof. Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 20567/77 and 5879/81 have disclosed a method of reinforcing non-woven fabrics with a net-like texture. According to this method, a desired number of sheets of non-woven fabric, which have been prepared beforehand, are placed in layers with a previously prepared heat-fusible net-like texture sandwiched between every adjoining layers of non-woven fabric, and the layers are bonded to each other by heated rolls. This method, however, involves a time-consuming production process, which leads to a high production cost. Also, the obtained product tends to suffer from separation at the bonded areas because of the face-to-face bonding of the net-like texture and non-woven fabric, and more solid and strong bonding leads to a worsened feeling of the product. In the conventional reinforced non-woven fabrics, reinforcing yarns are interwoven in the lengthwise direction of the non-woven fabric and in the direction orthogonal thereto, so that in such reinforced non-woven fabrics, a great deal of improvement may be provided in terms of tenacity and dimensional stability in both lengthwise and breadthwise directions, but the produced fabrics are poor in stretchability in both lengthwise and transverse directions, thereby giving rise to the problems that when tensile force is exerted to the non-woven fabric, such force is not absorbed elastically, or the non-woven fabric is ripped at the interstices of the reinforcing texture.